“Then & Now” columns appeared weekly in the Calgary Herald between 2002 and 2005. The following article appeared February 24, 2004.

Then: R.B. Deane House
• This 21/2-storey house was built in 1906 at a cost of $6,200 for Richard Burton Deane, superintendent of the Royal North West Mounted Police at Fort Calgary. Following Deane's retirement in 1914, the house was sold to Grand Trunk Railway, whose plans to use it as a residence for the station-master were never realized. Originally located near 8th Avenue and 6th Street S.E., it has been moved twice. Photos and coverage of the final move across the Elbow River on skids to its present location, in 1929, captured public attention and made it to the pages of Popular Mechanics magazine. Subsequently converted to apartment use, it was known for many years as the Gaspe Lodge rooming house. In 1973, the former Deane House was purchased by the City of Calgary.

Now: Deane House Restaurant
• Soon after the city bought the residence, it became home to an artists' and writers' co-operative, including the Dandelion Gallery. In 1974, the RCMP Veterans' Association restored the verandah and, in 1978, the house was designated a provincial historic resource. During an extensive renovation by the Fort Calgary Preservation Society in the 1980s, the house was converted for food service use. Today, the Deane House Restaurant is known for fine food, a resident ghost and a mystery dinner theatre.

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